


Open Hand Hit

by frescadp



Category: Starsky & Hutch
Genre: Domestic Violence, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-13
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-13 14:27:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29403375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frescadp/pseuds/frescadp
Summary: NOTE: This is a repost of a fic I wrote in 2015 (? I think), so you may have read it before. I deleted my account a while later and then, you know, kinda always regretted it. Just now getting around to fixing that (sort of like in this story).SUMMARY: This story starts where the TV series ends—after years of pretending otherwise, S&H finally decide to give it a go as a couple and move in together.
Relationships: David Starsky/Other(s), Ken Hutchinson/David Starsky, Starsky/Hutch
Kudos: 7





	Open Hand Hit

"Open Hand Hit" (originally published 2015)

Part 1: Bay City, 1980

Starsky stared at the back of his hand. It was smeared with blood where he’d wiped his broken lip.

“Ohgod,” Hutch said. “Babe, I am so sorry. I didn’t mean it, you know I didn't.” He paused. “I’ll get you a…, ah, do we have any band-aids? Do you need a …?” He put his head in his hands and took a deep breath. “I’ll go see.” He walked toward their bathroom.

Starsky felt sick with shock.  
Again. It had happened again.  
He bent to pick up the paint color swatches from where Hutch had knocked them out of his hand. So much for his vacation patching and repainting these old cracked walls.

Hutch came back with alcohol and cotton balls.  
“C’mere.” he said. “Let me disinfect that.”

“Don’t you fucking touch me,” Starsky said, backing away.

“Babe, look. I am so sorry. But I didn’t really hurt you. I just, just…” Hutch set the supplies on the end table and held out his open hand. “You know this case I’m working on. I haven’t slept, I'm worn out, and I had a couple beers, and, you know how it is. I just got a little too angry, alright?”

Starsky was silent.

“And you could see I’d had a bad day, if you can call eighteen hours a day. You know how it is, and you still had to insist on time-off now.” Hutch’s voice became snide. “Great call on your part, I’ve got to say. So, I’m sorry, I really am. But it was, it’s not like I punched you. Don’t put that trip on me, huh?”

“How many perps have you heard say crap like that?” Starsky said.

“This was nothing,” Hutch scoffed. “What’re you going to do, call the cops? Look, I come home beat, and you start shoving those things in my face…” Hutch gestured to the paint swatches. “And you know I don’t give a damn what color you paint these shitty walls. But you push, and you push, and… like you do––” Hutch took another deep breath to calm down. “We’ve talked about this. Living this way is not as easy for me as it is for you. You’ve gotta give me that. I happen to be straight, OK? And you know that. You know I’m not like you.”

“Oh, you’re straight, are you?” Starsky said, then winced and put a hand to his split lip. “Yeah, so you’re always telling me, except when my cock’s in your mouth.”

“Well, I can’t exactly talk then, can I?”

Starsky turned away. He walked into the kitchen and took out the ice-cube tray.

Hutch followed him. “Come on, it’s a joke. But the truth is, it’s not your fault, but sometimes I feel so trapped, I feel crazy. If it wasn’t for you, I’d be married, I’d have kids, and my mother would finally get off my fucking back.”

“You’re pathetic, Hutch.” Starsky applied ice to his cheek. “You want to get married and go on sucking guys off in the john the rest of your life, you go right ahead. Don’t let me stop you. But you’re as queer as me, you’re just better at lying to yourself. Fine, you can screw girls. So can I. But you’re always going to be a faggot, no matter what you tell your mother.”

“God damn it, Starsky,” Hutch slammed his hand on the formica countertop. “And you wonder why sometimes I get a little out of control. You make me lose control.”

Starsky dropped the ice in the sink. “Get out of my way,” he said.

Hutch backed out of the little kitchen, and Starsky walked past him, into their bedroom.  
He pulled a suitcase out of the closet.

“Oh, great,” Hutch said. “Aren’t you being a little dramatic, for a guy? Come on.” His voice softened. “I got a little angry, but don’t you think you have some part in this too? You know I love you. Come on, babe, I’ll make it up to you.” He came up behind Starsky and put a hand on his partner’s flank. “You know I can.”

Starsky looked up from packing the suitcase. “Not this time,” he said. He picked up the case and, brushing past Hutch, walked out of the house.

“Don’t leave me,” Hutch said to the emptiness, as he heard the familiar engine drive away. “You can’t leave me!” And turned and smashed his fist into the wall.

Part II: San Francisco, 1987

Starsky clenched his jaw. He’d recognize the cadence of that walk anywhere, even across the parking lot of the San Francisco Police Department. Not that it was entirely unexpected. He’d seen the fliers about the training on the new Domestic Abuse Police Response program, led by a specialist up from Bay City. Starsky had timed his day to avoid running into the guy, or he’d thought he had. But now the blond head was coming his direction.

No chance Starsky was unrecognizable himself, standing next to his red and white-striped car. He turned to unlock it.

“Starsky!” Hutch called, approaching with a wary smile. “Hey! I’d hoped I’d see you. I saw your car parked here this morning. I’m in town giving a presentation, and—well, I wrote, but…”

“Yeah, how you doing Hutch.” Starsky opened the car door and leaned against it. Hutch’s heart hurt to see the familiar stance. “I got your letters,” Starsky continued, “but you know how it is. Busy and everything…”“Well, now I’ve caught up to you,” Hutch said, “if you don’t want to, I get it, but I’d really like the chance to talk, if you’re free. Maybe I can begin to make some amends. I’ve made some big changes—I even helped start this program.”

“I heard about that,” Starsky said. “I don’t have time to talk, but good for you. Heard you got married too.”

“Look, this isn’t the place, but I need to say that—how I acted, I take full responsibility. I’ve learned a lot, I’m clean and sober, four years now, I do this work, and this marriage, it’s the real thing. She’d have come up here with me, but the baby’s teething. She’s great—you’d like each other. I’ve told her what good friends we were.”

“Good friends, huh?” Starksy said. “Look—congratulations, OK? I’m happy for you, a baby and everything. But the past is the past, and I don’t need your amends or any of that. I guess I should’ve written back to say. You know us Aries, right?—we just keep moving forward. Nice to see you, but—I’m late for–”

“David!” Jim, a naval officer in Full Dress, hurried across the parking lot, carrying a rental tuxedo. The grin on his face disappeared when the tall blond man next to Starsky turned to face him. Starsky had told Jim the minimum about his relationship with Hutch, but he’d never reduced it to “good friends” or hid the reason for his sudden move up to the city.

Jim handed the tux to Starsky, “There you are,” he said, ignoring the stranger. “I knew you’d barely have to time to pick this up, so I went ahead. Where were you, though? C’mon, we’re going to be late.”

“Thanks,” Starsky said, aware of his childish satisfaction in how good Jim looked. “Um, this is my former–“

“I know who he is.” Jim turned cold hazel eyes on Hutch. “Sorry, but we’re squeezed for time—my commander’s getting married, and I’m best man, and– look, David, you’ve got to change, and we’ll barely have time to drive to Alameda…”

“I won’t keep you,” Hutch said. “Starsky, my flight’s not ’til noon tomorrow, if you’ve got time for coffee?”

“Can’t, I’m on a big case. You know how it is.” Starsky hung the tux in the back of his car and got in. He turned on the radio and rolled down the window.

– feel the heat with somebody  
Yeah, I wanna dance with somebody  
With somebody who loves me…

“Meet you at home, Jim,” Starsky said. “Hutch–take care.” And he drove away.

Hutch turned to Jim. “Nice to meet you, Jim, is it? I’m in town for––”

“Just stay away from him,” Jim cut him off. “And don’t believe that Aries act I know he gave you—you have no idea…”

“I hear you, I’ll leave you alone. But believe me, I do have some idea.” Hutch looked down. “I knew him a long time.”

“Fine.” Jim said, and turned to go. “Just stay away.” 

Hutch stood alone in the parking lot, watching Starsky’s car turn out of the lot and drive west.

Part III: Bay City, 1994

“This guy keeps calling,” dispatch told Hutch, giving him the name and number. “We’ve told him you’re safe, call and tell him to stay off the line. I can’t believe he’s a cop—.”

It’d been twelve hours since the earthquake, and the police were overwhelmed. A freeway collapsed, gas mains exploding, water mains cracking, buildings imploding, and the mounting deaths… including a motorcycle cop. Hutch hadn’t known him, but at forty-six, the dead cop was just a few years young than him –and Starsky.

Even in the devastation, the call shocked Hutch. Of course Starsky didn’t have his home phone—not that Hutch’d been home since the quake. He’d moved a few times since his divorce, but Starsky had never replied to his letters before that anyway. There was a point, Hutch knew, where trying to make amends became just one more attempt at control, and after he’d run into Starsky in San Francisco, he’d stopped trying. On top of that, it had been clear Starsky was happy with that handsome naval officer.

Hutch went into his office, glad to have a private place to make the call.  
“Hutch?” Starsky answered on the first ring. “Hutch, thankgod. I’m watching the news and it looks like the end of the world down there. This is weird maybe, but I needed to hear your voice. I don’t even know where you live, if you’re in that area, or… and I… Thankgod you’re okay. You’re okay? Your family’s okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m okay. It’s crazy here, but everyone’s safe. Thanks for calling—dispatch told me…”

“I’m sorry about that,” Starsky said. “I didn’t have your number, and I know that’s the last thing they need, another asshole tying up the lines, but ever since Jim died, I’m just—. I’ve even been in counseling. You’d think after all we go through, we’d be immune, huh?”

Jim died? AIDS, Hutch guessed. He’d lost a lot of friends himself.

“I’m so sorry, Starsky. I didn’t know.”

“Right, of course—there’s no reason you’d have heard. Yeah, a crash on the flight deck—. Yeah, so… It’s been more than a year, but. Listen, Hutch, are you sure you’re okay? I’ve been kind of freaking out here.”

“Really, I’m fine,” Hutch said. “I’m actually just glad to hear your voice. Sorry,—this isn’t about me. I mean, Jim seemed like a great guy. You two looked really happy together.”

“We even got a dog,” Starsky said. “Remember how we were going to get a dog? A basset hound. His choice, and now I’ve got this dog that holds down the couch. Great dog, but he can’t run. You still run?”

A lump rose in Hutch’s throat. “Yeah, I run—I run my kid around when I see her every other weekend. Listen, I’d love to talk more. This sounds selfish, but I’ve hoped one day… But now, now is a terrible time. You can imagine, it’s a madhouse here. Can I call you later? Or, here—got a pencil?” He gave Starsky his phone and address. “Call me anytime—I’ve got a machine.”

“Got it. And thanks for calling back,” Starsky said. “I know you better go, but what do you mean, every other weekend? You separated or something?”

“Divorced,” Hutch said. “You, you were right all along, about everything, and I’m out now—for a few years, actually. I’m not with anyone, but I even came out to my mother, it you can imagine.”

“Really? You’re out to Lorraine?” Starsky said. “Wow! I sure didn’t think that’d ever happen. How did that go?”“Just like you’d think. She didn’t drop dead, anyway,” Hutch said. “Listen, this is terrible timing—they’re calling for me— but, you’re right, it’s like the apocalypse out there, and I want you to know that losing you—it’s always been you—the way I fucked that up, that’s the one big regret in my life. And I didn’t even see it was my fault.”

Starksy exhaled. “You always were a big dope, Hutch,” he said. “So, I know the freeway’s down, traffic’s going to be a bitch, but I can be there in six, seven hours. Unless you tell me not to, I’m getting in the car right now. And when I get there, I’ll make you—you still drink that twig and leaf tea?”

Hutch laughed. “That’s all I drink. Eleven years now. Driving down here is the stupidest idea I’ve ever heard—power’s out all over, I don’t know if you could find a hotel room but, …I still have a couch. I’ve changed, Starsky––I know that sounds like a cliché, but I really have. If you want to come, I’d love to have you.”

“Me too,” Starsky said. “Now go help some poor schmuck. I’ll be there by midnight.”

**Author's Note:**

> END NOTES:
> 
> 1\. Bay City is the Starsky & Hutch TV show’s stand-in for Los Angeles, so I used LA history.
> 
> 2\. Re "open hand hit":
> 
> “It was true he [David Soul (Hutch)] had struck her [Patti, married to David] but, he rationalized, it was an open-handed blow causing no serious injury.  
> He felt betrayed and abandoned by the woman he loved. The police then arrested him, read him his rights, and locked him in the back of a police car. ”
> 
> —from “The Souls' Dark Night: After Years of Abusing Women He Loved, David Soul Struggles to Control His Violence—and Save His Marriage, “ by Brad Darrach, Gioia Diliberto, People Magazine, April 18, 1983, www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20084767,00.html.
> 
> 3\. 1994 LA Earthquake  
> Fires from broken gas main:
> 
> “On January 17, 1994, at 4:31 am, a magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, killing more than 60, injuring more than 9,000, and causing widespread damage. Freeways crumbled, gas mains burst and caught fire, apartment complexes collapsed, and power was lost to vast sections of the city.”
> 
> www.theatlantic.com/photo/2014/01/the-northridge-earthquake-20-years-ago-today/100664/
> 
> TIMELINE
> 
> 1980: Shortly after the show ends, Starsky and Hutch, 37, have committed to being a couple (finally) and moved together into the fixer-upper Starsky had bought for them during the series.  
> \+ 7 years = 1987. Starsky & Hutch are turning 44. 
> 
> Starsky is in San Francisco, living with Jim, an officer serving on a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier [The USS Enterprise, a real ship featured in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home]. 
> 
> Hutch is married w/ 1 baby & working in domestic violence task team; based on the LAPD Domestic Abuse Response Teams (DART)
> 
> “Every DART team pairs trained civilian advocates [volunteers] with LAPD police officers to respond to reported incidents of domestic violence. The team offers victims and their families an array of services and critical interventions ….  
> Domestic violence is more than just a "family problem" ... it is a crime. One of every two families in the United States is involved in domestic violence at some time and in California it's a crime for any person to threaten, beat, sexually assault or otherwise harm another person, even if they are married.”
> 
> 1984—Hutch testifies for The Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (FVPSA) is a United States law, first authorized as part of the Child Abuse Amendments of 1984 (PL 98–457), that provides federal funding to help victims of domestic violence and their dependent children by providing shelter and related help, offering violence prevention programs, and improving how service agencies work together in communities.
> 
> 1984: DULUTH staff at the Domestic Abuse Intervention Project (DAIP) begins developing curricula for groups for men who batter and victims of domestic violence.
> 
> \+ 7 years = 1994. Starky & Hutch are 50 (it’s January).  
> (1992 = Rodney King; Jan 1994 = LA earthquake)
> 
> Hutch is divorced and has come out; Jim has died in the line of duty in a naval accident at sea.
> 
> [based on the (later) 1998 plane crash on flight deck of the USS Enterprise:  
> “Navy Planes Crash on Carrier's Flight Deck,” New York Times, November 9, 1998, www.nytimes.com/1998/11/09/us/navy-planes-crash-on-carrier-s-flight-deck.html.  
> Description here: www.check-six.com/Crash_Sites/1998_CVN-65_PLATtape.htm


End file.
